Area‐based conservation beyond 2020: A global survey of conservation scientists

We surveyed 335 conservation scientists, from 81 countries, in English, French and Spanish for views on area-based conservation relating to the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 of the Convention on Biological Diversity and potential future targets, especially a successor to Aichi Target 11.The results can be summarised as follows: 1.Nearly unanimously, area-based or in-situ conservation is considered to be important to conserve biodiversity (99 per cent).2.All of the qualitative aspects of Target 11 are well supported, with strongest support for areas of importance for biodiversity (e.g.Key Biodiversity Areas); ecological connectivity; integration with broader landscapes and seascapes; and effective management.3.Future area-based conservation targets should include large-scale conservation networks that include connectivity between protected areas, protection of endangered and threatened species or ecosystems, and ecologically intact wilderness areas.4.Various methods from conservation biology were considered useful to establish area-based targets, with systematic conservation planning receiving the greatest support. 5.There is very strong agreement (79 per cent) that Target 11, with its current percentage targets of 17 per cent of land and freshwater and 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, is not adequate to conserve biodiversity.6.Conservation scientists showed very strong support for large-scale percentage area conservation targets, in the order of 50 per cent of the Earth.